The Operatives Episode 4 The Cosmic Fire Of A Distant Place
by TrueThought
Summary: Bail Organa has agreed to be a part of an expedition into a natural space phenomenon in Deep Core. However something is wrong with the ship; time is against them and Obi-Wan has to bring in someone he can trust to help because he's just had a visit from the bounty hunter Cad Bane and no one can be wholly trusted anymore.
1. Chapter 1

The Operatives; Episode 4: The Cosmic Fire Of A Distant Place

Chapter One: In which the monotony is broken.

It always surprised Obi-Wan how the clone soldiers of the Grand Army of the Republic managed to keep cheerful; somehow they were able to put their own personal background behind them and embrace the much larger identity of the Mando'ade. Maybe it was desperation, maybe it was an acceptance of their heritage in some way – after all, Jango Fett was a Mandalorian warrior and many of these clones had been trained by warriors from the clans and from the fabled Cuy'val Dar. In a way it was heartening; in another it merely highlighted his own insecurities and fears.

Currently the 501st were on standby at the GAR barracks on Corescant and, consequently, so were Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker. It had become clear early on in the war, prompted by the observations of Master Zey, head of special operations, that the soldiers responded better to generals they trusted and had served with over a long period of time. Secretly Obi-Wan believed that this was due to the fact that the clones were aware of how the Senate and the Republic in general viewed them – having a general they knew was willing to risk everything to keep them alive meant a lot to these men. Obviously it also helped unit cohesion especially as raw recruits were brought in so often these days. Rex, Alpha and the 501st legion and, in addition, Gold Squadron (when they were needed) were almost permanently assigned to General Kenobi and, in his absence, to his padawan. Like many clone legions they had spent almost the entire war, certainly many of their victories, under their command.

"So, General, when will we be getting off the ground again?"  
Rex, as always, was cheerful and exercising his own brand of dry humour; like all the others, Obi-Wan had learned, he preferred to have an objective to complete rather than lie around all day simply waiting.  
Obi-Wan was sitting opposite him at the table at the side of the barracks, watching the other clones put themselves through exercises and the like in order to stave off the boredom that two weeks confinement to the GAR headquarters, in readiness to mobilize at a moment's notice, had inevitably led to.  
He shrugged, "To be honest, I haven't a clue. As and when we're needed I suppose."  
Rex didn't seem bothered by this non-committal answer – he probably hadn't expected anything more.  
"What's your padawan been up to for the past fortnight?" he asked with a grin. "I can't imagine him sitting still with nothing to do for so long."  
How well they knew Anakin! "He's preparing for the Trials; at least I hope he is!"  
"A bit early isn't it sir?"  
"I think it's better if he starts a bit early," Obi-Wan replied calmly, "I want him to be ready – entirely prepared for knighthood – more so than I was."  
Rex nodded, then looked up with a smile, "On a different subject entirely General, if you think I'm getting itchy heels talk to _him_!"  
Obi-Wan looked round to see Alpha coming towards them, fresh out of the showers and, as Rex had hinted, looking ready to reassign himself to an active unit at any moment.  
Rex waved at him, "Alpha! Sit down and alleviate the stress!"  
Alpha was not impressed by the sarcasm. He was different from Rex in a very fundamental way; whereas Rex was one of thousands of clones grown in identical ways and picked out as a captain during training, Alpha had been grown as part of an experiment into the specialized ARC troopers. They'd been allowed a little more individuality and more of Jango Fett's DNA had been retained in their genetic makeup. They had been rumoured to be unpredictable and dangerous after the standard ten years of maturing all clones went through and it was only during the Battle of Kamino at the start of the war that Prime Minister Lama Su had agreed to reactivate the project. Alpha had helped Obi-Wan and Master Shaak Tii in that battle and on subsequent campaigns. Anakin had given him his name and he'd remained at Obi-Wan's side ever since. Whereas Rex was cheerful and a little relaxed about military formalities around his two generals, for whatever reason, Alpha doggedly retained every scrap of military protocol he'd been programmed with. Obi-Wan suspected that this was more out of defiance than anything else.  
Rex patted his college on the shoulder as he sat down, "Go on Alpha, tell the General how bored we are."  
The ARC trooper instantly looked embarrassed.  
Rex grinned at Obi-Wan, "Any time you like Alpha."  
Alpha cleared his throat, "General… Sir – I don't like to complain to a superior officer-"  
"Complain away," Obi-Wan replied generously.  
This didn't seem to make the clone relax. If anything he tensed and became more regimental, "Well sir…it's not good for the men sir, to have them on standby like this. It's bad for morale and when we are finally assigned we won't be as ready as we would otherwise be."  
"Mentally or physically," Rex muttered.  
Obi-Wan had to laugh at them both, "Don't worry Alpha; I'm as keen to get back to the action as you are. I'll talk to GAR High Command and see if they can't give you all time off for a bit."  
He was prevented from saying anything else by the arrival of a junior officer at their table. He was quite young and rather nervous and it all showed in his voice.  
"General, you're wanted at Flight Control."  
Rex raised his eyebrows at the quaver in the officer's voice.  
Obi-Wan frowned, "Why does anyone want me?"  
The officer stammered out a response, "Sir – I – I was told – I was told not to answer any questions."  
Alpha rose from his seat and subjected the young man to a harsh glare, "You will answer the General's question, as your superior officer!"  
"It is a classified military matter – I was told to fetch Master Kenobi, nothing more."  
Alpha glared at him, "That's _General _Kenobi, officer."  
"Y-yes sir," the young man gulped.  
Obi-Wan stood up, "It's alright officer, I'm on my way."  
As the young man turned to go he turned to Alpha, "Was that really necessary? It doesn't matter to me you know."  
"It matters to _me_," Alpha retorted. "Those military types, they still think Jedi have no place in war."  
"Well we don't," Obi-Wan pointed out.  
"Perhaps," Alpha conceded, "but that still doesn't give them the right to treat you like an amateur. I don't like having a veteran of Kamino and countless other campaigns talked down to, as if they let you walk these corridors as a courtesy. You're a good general sir and I'd prefer to see you get the respect you deserve – the same respect you give to every single clone in this army."  
Obi-Wan found himself unable to say anything. It was one thing for Alpha to speak his mind (which he did frequently in some subtle and regimental way) but quite another for him to speak so emotionally.  
Rex spoke up at this point as the silence threatened to smother them, "General, you'd better get upstairs to the flyboys and their computers."  
Obi-Wan nodded. He gave them a mock salute and a smile and turned to leave.

Flight Control was a long, oblong room filled with rows of control stations and one long wall of monitors, flickering between star-maps, rows of numbers and schematics. In a space in the centre was a circular table, a holomap of the galaxy floating above it and an interactive display that allowed the user to call up more detailed information on any given planet. Captain Ared was looking at the display with a stony expression although he looked genuinely pleased to see Obi-Wan.  
"General!" he cried, warmly shaking his hand. "It's good to see you again! You're on standby I hear."  
"Unfortunately I am," Obi-Wan replied.  
Ared shrugged, "It's the knock-on effect of trying to control a large expanse of space and not having a large enough force to defend it properly; suddenly you have to think twice about where you send any of it. I'm sure I've seen continents move faster than the Chancellor when he has to make up his mind."  
Obi-Wan forced himself not to comment; it wasn't a conversation he wanted to get dragged into.  
"I understand you wanted me for something of a classified nature?"  
Ared became serious again, "We received a call from the _Pioneer_ about thirty minutes ago."  
Obi-Wan felt his stomach twist, "What kind of call?"  
"The distress kind I'm afraid. Senator Organa asked to speak to you specifically."  
He nodded, "Could I use a headset?"  
Ared nodded, "Over here."  
He led him over to a vacant console and handed him a headset. After a few seconds of rapid button-pressing Bail Organa's face appeared on the small flatscreen.  
"Hello!" he exclaimed. "You arrived quicker than I thought!"  
"To be honest Bail," Obi-Wan replied, "I thought you were joking when you said I'd be the first one you'd contact in an emergency."  
"It helps to be prepared."  
"What's happened?" Obi-Wan asked, moving the conversation past the less important things he was considering saying.  
"We've had some sort of mechanical fault. The others are trying to find out what is actually broken at the moment but I wanted to talk to you before this goes any further."  
"Hang on," Obi-Wan interjected, "mechanical fault?"  
"We don't know what it is yet."  
"Yes, so you said. Is there anything you can take a guess at? Are the air scrubbers still working?"  
"Don't worry, they're still working fine. We've shut the engines down, obviously; it's just that the computer is telling us that something hasn't been working in the way it should have. So the engines have been stopped and the crew is checking everything."  
"So what am I doing here?" Obi-Wan asked. "If it's really as bad as Ared seems to think I can't help."  
"He may be being pessimistic," Bail pointed out.  
"Bail, he's an expert. By definition we have to believe whatever he tells us to. Now, what do you want me for?"  
The senator's face became, if possible, more serious.  
"Breha should be landing on Corescant sometime today. I need someone to tell her what's happened, before Flight Control send somebody, and to stay with her if possible."  
"Bail, I've never even met the woman!"  
"I know, but in case this gets worse, I'd want it to be you who told her."  
Obi-Wan swallowed, "I think you're trying to make your wife hate me."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: In which Obi-Wan meets Breha Organa and is puzzled by a shadow man.

Obi-Wan had never quite known what to think of C-3PO; he was sure Anakin had programmed him to be an effective protocol droid and Padme had certainly never complained about him. Even so his manner had always been enough to make Obi-Wan irritable, especially at moments like this.  
"I'm very sorry Master Kenobi," C-3PO was saying, "but the Senator is in an important meeting at the moment."  
"This can't exactly wait," Obi-Wan said as calmly as he could, "so could you go into that meeting and get her out of it?"  
"I'm afraid I could not!" the droid exclaimed, as if Obi-Wan had asked him to do something illegal.  
"It _is_ a matter of life and death," Obi-Wan pointed out.  
This seemed to put C-3PO into an internal moral conflict, or at least as close as he could get.  
"Sir – I – well the thing is…"  
He was saved from answering by Padme's voice, "Obi-Wan? What's going on? I thought you were being deployed soon."  
"I am but something's come up," Obi-Wan replied. "Do you have anything booked for this afternoon?"  
"The Senator has a full afternoon of meetings and a function at seven-thirty," the droid explained in his fussy way, as if his previous conversation with Obi-Wan had not happened.  
"Right, I need you to cancel all that."  
Padme was studying his expression closely. After a moment she asked the question, "What's happened?"  
The question was full of suspicion; she was probably half-way to the answer already.  
"Flight Control received a distress call from the Pioneer this morning."  
Being an intelligent woman she didn't need further explanation, at least not yet.  
"Breha's landing in fifteen minutes you know."  
"Bail told me. I need you to be there when I tell her, she hasn't met me before."  
Padme left the room and came back, pulling a cloak about her shoulders, "Threepio, cancel everything for today. I'll let you know when I'm getting back."

Breha Organa was a slightly built woman with an inner strength that reminded Obi-Wan of Padme. Of course her strength meant very little in the face of the news he had. He told her everything he knew and waited for her to break. She didn't immediately, though he could tell it was a struggle.  
"I hope you won't take offense at this, Master Kenobi," she said, softly, "but, given all that Bail has told me about you, I wish I hadn't met you today."  
"Believe me, your Highness, I wish I didn't have to be the one to tell you."  
She looked at him with eyes of a deep brown and full of grief for an event not yet come to pass.  
"When will we know what is happening?"  
He felt awkward, knowing she was holding back her tears because of his presence. Not because of this, but very relieved in any case he replied, "I'm going back to Flight Control now; Captain Ared won't mind me sitting in on the operations, he's an old friend. I'll contact you the moment I hear anything."  
For whatever reason, though she'd only just met him in person, he could sense in her that she trusted him.  
Padme took him to the door, "I'm going to stay with her I think."  
"That's a good idea," he glanced back, "to be honest this could be a very long night."  
Padme put her hand on his arm and gave it a slight squeeze, "Bring him home Obi-Wan, please."  
He looked her in the eye and nodded; then he was gone.

Breha was sitting on the sofa when Padme returned; she could instantly tell that the Queen of Alderaan had heard every word of her conversation with Obi-Wan. Even if it hadn't been obvious, Breha's next comment left her in no doubt.  
"I wish you hadn't made Master Kenobi promise something he can't necessarily do."  
Padme sat down next to her, "You know about the aftermath of Zigoola better than I do; I should think you know more about the incident in general. Obi-Wan likes to have an obligation, some sort of standard by which he can judge his success or failure."  
"Should you encourage that?"  
She shrugged, "I don't know. He prefers it though; more than anything he hates uncertainty, especially about himself. Whether it's good for him or not it's what he wants and I try to oblige him – I owe him so much anyway."

Obi-Wan had to walk from where he'd left the citi-bike back to Flight Control, down a long underpass, lit along its roof. Shadows lined the edges of the tunnel. Obi-Wan had to force himself to be calm all of a sudden. Cold shivers like this were getting more frequent but he was learning to cope. It helped that, for the most part, they were irrational fears. Not tonight though; he spotted the shadow move out of the corner of his eye. He endured a moment of shock before the realisation hit him that the motion had been deliberate.  
The blue-skinned Duros stepped out of the dark, his red eyes glowing under the brim of his wide hat. To all intents and purposes he seemed casual; in fact Obi-Wan was inclined to believe he genuinely was.  
"General Kenobi," Cad Bane said, with a tone of ease, "nice night for a stroll."  
"I'm not strolling," Obi-Wan retorted, taking his lightsaber off his belt. "You're not hiding from me like you should but I assume you'll run if I try to arrest you?"  
"Correct. The wisdom of the Jedi never ceases to amaze." He was smiling in that cold, frank manner he had, "I should congratulate you on the disguise you pulled off last year. You had me completely fooled, even when you bested The Box, I didn't suspect."  
"Yes you did."  
The bounty-hunter shrugged, "Alright, yes I suspected you weren't what you claimed to be, but the notion that you were a Jedi didn't cross my mind. I'm trying to compliment your skills."  
"I don't want your compliments or to be reminded of that incident," Obi-Wan snapped. "What do you want?"  
Bane stuck his hands in his pockets but held the Jedi's gaze, "I've been sent."  
"By whom?"  
"By an employer, who do you think?"  
"I suppose it would be too much to ask for a name."  
Bane smiled, "Right in one!"  
"Sent for what reason?" Obi-Wan was feeling irritable; he wanted to get back to Flight Control and contact Bail again as soon as possible. Neither Breha nor her husband deserved to sit around waiting all night.  
"To give you a message."  
After a brief silence Obi-Wan asked, "Alright, what's the message?"  
Cad Bane smiled and faded back into the dark. Uttering a frustrated cry Obi-Wan ran after him, drawing the blade of his lightsaber; but, like so many times before, Bane had escaped the shadows, leaving Obi-Wan with nothing to do but wait until he showed up again.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: In which Anakin is given something to do.

Obi-Wan arrived back as dusk began to fall. As he entered the building he opened a comm-channel to the Jedi Temple.  
"Could you get me General Zey please – oh and pass a message on to Anakin Skywalker to meet me here at Flight Control."  
"Yes sir," the Jedi on the comm-desk said.  
It didn't take long to locate Zey – he'd probably been working, as per usual.  
"Is there a problem Kenobi?"  
"I need to know if you've picked up Cad Bane arriving on Corescant."  
Zey sounded both puzzled and scathing, "I thought you always went to your political friend for intelligence."  
"He's not available," Obi-Wan replied, ignoring the jibe.  
"Nothing has been flagged up," Zey said. "Unless you want me to check every single Duros on Corescant-"  
"No Zey," Obi-Wan cut him off, "I'm just checking something – it's not that important."  
As he cut the link he wondered if he was right.

Ared looked up as he came into main control deck, "Hey, I'm glad you came back."  
"Problems?" Obi-Wan asked, suddenly afraid.  
"Don't panic, nothing's actually happened," Ared assured him. "We've reinstated contact with the Pioneer; they're currently looking through the maintenance deck to find the problem – they're narrowing the field of possibilities at least."  
"So what do you need?"  
"We've found it's best if someone is on the other end of the comms to keep their minds off the problem."  
"Aren't their minds supposed to be _on_ the problem?" Obi-Wan asked.  
"The Senator at the very least isn't a professional pilot. There's a very real chance none of them will make it back home. That's what you need to keep them from thinking about. There's ging to be a lot of technical discussion going back and forth – if you just stay on the comms while we-"  
"Don't worry," Obi-Wan interrupted, "I get the picture. Where's the comm desk?"  
Ared grinned, "Right over there."  
Obi-Wan crossed the room to the controls. Then he looked back, "Oh, by the way, you don't mind if I bring in a friend to help you sort this technical fault out do you?"

Obi-Wan sat down at the desk and put on a headset, "Anyone there?"  
The flatscreen image on the wall opposite flickered into life; visible was a young man in a uniform.  
"Um, hello?" he looked rather puzzled.  
"Are you the pilot?" Obi-Wan ventured.  
"No, I'm the navigator," the young man replied. "Are you General Kenobi?"  
Obi-Wan sighed, "My reputation precedes me and it's starting to get ridiculous. What's going on up there?"  
"The others are in the engine room – that's where the important stuff is on a ship this small; they're trying to find the problem." His tone was slightly less than controlled.  
"What's your name," Obi-Wan asked gently.  
"Sarchan, sir."  
"Navigator Sarchan, I give you my word we will find a solution," Obi-Wan said. "Now I'm going to be on the comms the whole time; can you tell me how many crewmembers there are on board?"  
"There's the pilot, the engineer, myself of course and the Senator."  
"Bail Organa is looking for a problem in the system?"  
"Yes sir."  
Obi-Wan shook his head, "Bad move Sarchan, very bad move," but he was grinning. Trust Bail to insist on being helpful for the whole time.  
The navigator laughed a little, "Yes sir."  
"So what are you doing up on the control deck?"  
"What we came here to do – I've been taking readings of the phenomenon."  
"Is it of any interest?"  
"Well…it's the largest nebula dust cloud in Deep Core; at least the largest that has been recorded in the last few decades."  
Obi-Wan nodded slowly, "It sounds fascinating so I'm going to pretend I know what you're talking about. Could you do me a favour and get the Senator up here?"  
Sarchan nodded and disappeared from view, revealing behind him the viewport of the ship and view beyond. A swirling cloud of colour, in waves across the sky filled the viewport.  
"Oh, I see," Obi-Wan murmured, "they went for the view."  
He turned round in his seat to face Ared, "How bad is this going to be?"  
Ared looked awkward, "It can vary; anything between 'harmless but looks bad' and – well – 'fatal'."  
"I've missed you attempting to be optimistic," Obi-Wan muttered.  
"Obi-Wan, in all the time you've known me, have I ever made more of anything than it actually warranted?" Ared pointed out.  
"Hello?" Bail Organa appeared on the screen. He was covered in black grime.  
"You look attractive," Obi-Wan remarked sarcastically.  
"You're still here?" Bail asked.  
"I spoke to Breha," Obi-Wan assured him, "and Padme's staying with her."  
"Oh good. How is she?"  
"Let's just say I'm looking forward to telling her that everything has been fixed and you're on your way home," Obi-Wan said.  
"I wouldn't get hopeful," Bail muttered.  
"It's that bad?"  
"Well the captain didn't have a particularly cheerful expression when I left. Speaking of which, here he comes."  
Another uniformed man appeared on the screen, also covered in grime.  
"Obi-Wan this is Captain Talek."  
"General," Captain Talek saluted. "Is Captain Ared there?"  
"I'm here Talek," Ared said, walking across the room to join Obi-Wan. "You've had a look round the engine room I can see."  
"Yes, it was great fun," his tone of sarcasm was distinctly pronounced.  
"You're currently on speaker Captain," Ared continued, "can you tell the room, as precisely as possible, what has actually gone wrong?"  
"Well the reactor is fine – no leak," Talek began, "the hyperdrive is in good shape and power supply is good for another two weeks and, of course, it only takes us seven days to get back to Corescant so we're quite safe from that perspective. "  
"I can sense there's a 'but' coming," Obi-Wan said.  
"Yes sir," Talek relented. "It's the Reactant Tank. The mixture is wrong – a decimal point in the wrong place somewhere. The problem is that the Reactant Tank feeds the fuel cells. So we can't start the engines – the mixture is most likely flammable which means they would explode."  
"Right," Ared said, "that's easy enough, we'll send out a rescue ship."  
"I don't think that's worth it," Talek said, "because our air supply is also filtered through the Reactant Tank. We've got the air scrubbers working flat out but that's not going to keep an equilibrium for long."  
"Can't you isolate parts of the ship?"  
"That's only in the instance of a reactor leak and it shuts off the wrong parts of the ship. Think is we either blow ourselves up trying to get to a rescue ship or choke to death before it can reach us. Believe me, any suggestions would be appreciated."  
"Bail I swear if you get back I'm killing you myself," Obi-Wan muttered under his breath.  
"I heard that," Bail said.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: In which Cad Bane delivers his message.

Anakin Skywalker, as soon as he arrived, went into an intense, muttered conversation with Ared who, unlike many others who had met Anakin, was not perturbed by the young man's enthusiasm. Obi-Wan, meanwhile, kept up contact with those on the ship. Having met the navigator Sarchan and Captain Talek, he was then introduced to Carda, the engineer, who was grubbier than any of them.  
"Comes with the territory sir," he explained with a shrug, "all good engineers are covered in the grime from their machines – shows you how long they've spent working on them."  
Obi-Wan nodded; to be honest he had assumed they all had other things to worry about than keeping clean.  
"So what do the two genii think?" he called over to Anakin and Ared.  
They came over to join him. "We've considered a few options," Ared said, "there weren't many of them."  
"Captain," Anakin said, addressing Talek, "you said you have procedures to isolate parts of the ship?"  
"Yes," Talek said, looking puzzled, "but as I said, that's for a reactor leak."  
"The Pioneer is a K7-92 isn't it?" Anakin continued.  
"Yes, but-"  
"Fortunately Captain," Anakin interrupted him, "I'm more competent in these matters than you think. The bridge can be sealed off from the rest of the ship and almost everything – within reason - can be controlled from there. If you re-route the lockdown procedure you should have a breathable atmosphere for just that little bit longer, than you would otherwise have."  
The tension was visible in his face, almost for a moment:  
"That should give me time to think something up."  
The room was silent for a while; then Talek looked at his crew, then back at those in the room.  
"Commander Skywalker, if you tell us what to do, we'll try it."  
Obi-Wan, for an instant, regretted putting this trouble on Anakin's shoulders.

It was raining when he went outside. He desperately needed some air and relief from the atmosphere inside Flight Control; and he needed to try, just for a moment, to forget that four lives were hanging in the balance. He'd never needed to try so hard before. There was a time, long ago, when he could have retreated into the safety of the code which had dominated his life. Then, not quite a year ago, suddenly, that safety had been taken away. The Dark Side had taken it away. He'd got it back but somehow it had become inaccessible to him; as if it was a code he no longer understood. It belonged to a home that had changed far too much for him to recognise. Who knew what that home stood for now? It didn't stand for him.  
More than ever now, he missed Qui-Gon.

"Busy night Kenobi?"  
Obi-Wan spun around, finding the glowing red eyes in the dark.  
"Bane, I swear if you don't say something useful I will drag you into General Zey's office screaming."  
The bounty hunter stepped out of the shadows once more, the rain dripping off the brim of his hat.  
"Whether it's useful or not depends on you Kenobi," he said with a smirk. "My…client didn't explain what it meant."  
"Your message?"  
"Indeed."  
Obi-Wan sighed; he was too tired for this, for any of it.  
"I'm going back inside."  
"I haven't told you what he said yet."  
Obi-Wan turned away, "Read my expression Bane; I don't care."  
"He said 'join the dots'."  
Obi-Wan stopped and turned back, "What?"  
"That's the message. 'Join the dots'. I hope you know what it means."  
"Just 'join the dots'?"  
"He said nothing else," Bane assured him turning away.  
Obi-Wan had a slight smile playing over his face; something about Bane's tone of voice…  
"You're scared of him aren't you?"  
Bane's pace halted for a second.  
"You come all the way to Corescant – risking your life by the way – to deliver me a message of three words that you don't understand? Bane, we've already established I'm cleverer than you, don't try and lie to me now."  
"I met him once – it was dark, he paid me money – I don't know anything about him. Even his voice was in a synthesiser." Cad Bane looked directly into the Jedi's face, "I've done what he asked, that's me finished." Then he turned away and walked away into the rain.

Anakin was sitting in a conference room with a lot of data pads spread out across the table and some blueprints in between.  
"That looks complicated," Obi-Wan said as he came in.  
"It is," Anakin agreed. "What's really irritating is that it's also really old."  
He leant back in his chair, "The isolation programme worked – they're all now holed up in the bridge section which releases the pressure on the air scrubbers; hasn't solved our main problem though."  
"Which is what?"  
"That they're too far out. No one is going to be able to get to them in time, even with the rest of the ship shut off."  
"And they can't use the engines?"  
"Not with the mixture in the reactant tank all wrong," Anakin said, shaking his head. "That would, most likely, blow up the engines and then we'd be really stuck."  
Obi-Wan shook his head, "I'm sorry Anakin; I shouldn't have brought you into this."  
His padawan grinned, "Why, because of the stress? I thought that was meant to be character building."  
"If that's what it is then this whole war is one big exercise in character building."  
Anakin looked at him for a moment.  
"Okay, get out and get some rest. I can't think up a solution while you're in here being depressed!"  
For a moment Obi-Wan wondered if he shouldn't tell him about Bane but only for a moment. As he left he found Ared outside the door.  
"Obi-Wan I'm going to send most of the operators home – just for a couple of hours. They may need the rest and since nothing's happening as yet-"  
"Good idea," Obi-Wan agreed. "You should get some rest too. Do you mind if I stay here on the comms."  
Ared nodded, "Fine, just don't work yourself too much. It's emotionally draining, this sort of situation."

The only person on-screen when he got back to the comm desk was Captain Talek, who seemed to have his feet up on the control panel and was drumming his fingers aimlessly on the armrest of his chair.  
"General!" he cried, jumping to his feet far quicker than was humanly possible from that position.  
"At ease Captain," Obi-Wan said, grinning a little as he adjusted his headset. "All quiet up there too?"  
"They others are catching a few hours sir," Talek explained. "The senator wanted to wait until you came back but I told him I'd wake him when I heard from you."  
"Are you going to?"  
"No sir, not unless it's urgent."  
"It really isn't," Obi-Wan assured him, a hint of amusement in his voice. "Tell me Captain, how long have you worked on the _Pioneer_?"  
"Eight years now sir."  
"Same crew that whole time?"  
"Yes sir. They came from different sections of Flight Control originally. Carda was injured while on active service so he was transferred somewhere he was less likely to have to run. Sarchan, he wanted to fly freighters – until he crashed one."  
"How badly?"  
"No casualties. When I asked him he said he'd caused some expensive damage. That means he crashed it into the wrong landing bay. Got the numbers mixed up."  
"And a man with such mathematical inconsistencies is your navigator?"  
"You never make the same mistake twice sir."  
Obi-Wan chuckled, "And you?"  
"I flew low-level reconnaissance flights sir. I didn't want promotion really, so I requested a transfer."  
"Are you glad you did?"  
Talek smiled, "Absolutely sir; I have the best job, the best ship and the best crew. Believe me, this ship may be old but she's reliable – well usually."  
"It's not me you have to convince Talek, it's my apprentice," Obi-Wan said; then he frowned. "Hasn't the ship had any problems in the past?"  
"Carda's a good engineer sir, he's always made sure any problems are fixed before they happen. He checks the ship at least twice before we set off and he has a talent for anticipating problems of fatigue."  
"Captain, with regards to this mission, have you considered the possibility of sabotage?"  
Talek looked as if he was going to laugh but he caught sight of Obi-Wan's face; there was no mirth there.  
"Sir, do you really think-?"  
"I'm starting to," Obi-Wan murmured.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: In which the _Pioneer_ is brought home.

"I told Talek to wake me when you got back!" Bail was mildly fuming. "I told him-!"  
"Captain Talek is a very intelligent young man," Obi-Wan rebuked him. "or do you not need sleep now?"  
Bail muttered something unintelligible.  
"What was so important anyway?"  
The senator looked round and sighed, sinking into the chair that was set at the control desk.  
"Truth is I'm nervous – afraid really. Sorry Obi-Wan but I just need to-"  
"That's okay," Obi-Wan assured him, "I understand." He felt a little awkward; it was usually Bail who had to offer _him_ emotional support.  
"How's it coming along your end?" Bail asked.  
"Nothing yet; it won't be long though – Anakin will come up with something."  
"I suppose there's nothing to do for the moment but admire the view."  
Obi-Wan looked past his friend to the viewport on the bridge. Beyond it the nebula blazed; swirling clouds of colour (that he could assume). In the centre a bright core burned the whole thing like an inferno across the sky.  
"Obi-Wan," Bail said quietly, "it's caused a lot of trouble and I appreciate that we are in serious danger but – wasn't it worth it? Just for this?"  
Obi-Wan clenched his fist on the arm of his chair, "Don't say that Bail. Don't you dare even think it."

"I've got something!" Anakin came barrelling out of the conference room waving a data pad above his head.  
Bail jumped up and woke the crew. Obi-Wan switched the comm channel onto the speaker setting and keyed a message into his commlink for Ared.  
"Carda, what's the coolant tank's capacity?" Anakin asked.  
"About three gallons," Carda replied, definitely puzzled, "but why?"  
"Well there's a way – of course it's not recommended by experts-"  
"When is it ever?" Obi-Wan pointed out.  
"If you re-route the coolant lines you can vent it out of the engine ports," Anakin explained.  
"But what does that-?"  
"The pressure the coolant is stored at on board your ship is really quite high. Venting it through the engine ports will release that pressure and it will create a small amount of propulsion. Fortunately, in space, that is quite a lot of momentum."  
Talek and his crew looked at each other.  
"Release it in small bursts you should be able to reach the rescue ship if it sets off now," Anakin continued. He looked around, "It's probably the only solution."  
"Carda," Talek said slowly, "re-route the coolant lines into the engine bay and wait for my instructions. Sarchan re-orientate the ship."  
People were starting to drift back into the room, taking up positions at their desks. Obi-Wan looked over at Anakin.  
"It's a good idea."  
"Really?"  
"Oh yes," Obi-Wan assured him, "I knew you'd come up with something."  
Anakin stared at him, almost in surprise; but he couldn't stop himself smiling.  
"Right," Carda said on the screen, "we're ready."  
Anakin looked round, "Captain Ared, would you like to take over this one?"  
Ared nodded, "Captain Talek, let's give it a trial burst; one second burst."  
Talek nodded at Carda, "One second burst…go."  
A short silence descended as the engineer pushed the button.  
"Sarchan?" Talek asked over his shoulder.  
"Nothing much sir," Sarchan replied.  
Obi-Wan put a hand on Anakin's shoulder, "Try it again – try a two second burst this time."  
The silence descended again. Nobody in the room was even breathing.  
"Sir," Sarchan called over, "we're on the move!"  
The cheer that rose from the room could have split the roof open.  
Obi-Wan let out the air in his lungs he hadn't realised he'd been holding.  
"That's it Bail," he murmured, "come on home."

Husband and wife were reunited three days later on one of the Corescant landing pads. Padme and Obi-Wan had driven Breha there and now they watched the tearfully affectionate reunion.  
"You know, Obi-Wan," Padme said quietly, "Breha asked me whether I was right; telling you to bring Bail home – putting you under obligation. I told her it was what you wanted."  
She looked directly at him now, "The thing is was I right? And if I was – can you tell me why?"  
He sighed, trying to put his thoughts into words.  
"I don't know if you were right – I don't know if it is right of me to ask it of you."  
He paused again and when he spoke next his voice was a little weaker.  
"I need to keep reminding myself that I _do_ care, that I care whether I succeed or fail. It's not the most Jedi trait but it feels safer than letting go of my emotions completely as I used to. I need to be reminded that I care so I don't forget _how_."  
"Obi-Wan," Padme said, finding her voice somehow, "I thought you'd run out of ways to scare me."  
Obi-Wan was about to respond – he wanted to – but someone grabbed his shoulder forcefully.  
"What have you been getting into while I've been away on campaign?!" Kit almost yelled. "No, wait – ignore that – what have you been getting _Bail_ into?!"  
Obi-Wan and Padme exchanged looks and started to laugh.

The view from the highest peak of the Manaari Mountains on Corescant was quite unparalleled. The four Operatives sat there, the remains of a picnic spread around.  
"I'M THE KING OF THE WORLD!"  
"Thanks for that Kit," Bail muttered, but he was smiling.  
"I'm serious!" Kit laughed. "Honestly, right now I don't care we're fighting a war – I feel fantastic!"  
"Bail, did Obi-Wan help you make this food?" Padme asked. "I'm certain Kit has been eating spice."  
"I don't think he has," Obi-Wan said, laughing with the others, "because I feel the same. For the first time in ages it feels like we can make it."

* * *

**A.N.** And that is the end of phase one of the series! Please Read and Review! I really appreciate feedback! Phase two will be starting soon (work and so on permitting.)


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